The very idea of the “workplace” is being redefined. Many companies are adopting policies of flexible work hours, work from home options, and the ability to bring your own device to work. Working in this way allows employees the flexibility to work how and when they choose and - most importantly - where they choose.
As we enter this holiday season, and bring authenticity and connection with others into our offices, I want to focus on the responsibility we have as leaders to develop others.
If the R&R and lazy days of summer have made you less than enthusiastic about work, and you feel your level of productivity slowing to a halt, it’s the perfect time to take advantage of all the “back to school” energy out there and turn your procrastinating into proactive, fulfilling, stuff-you-can-be-proud-of, work.
At the HRPS conference in Tucson, Tammy Erickson was one of the featured speakers. I was fortunate to work for and with Tammy earlier in my career and I have always found her insights provocative and wise. Her topic was innovation and she outlined several elements of a comprehensive approach to building a predictably innovative organization--as opposed to an organization that expects innovation to sort of magically appear from a brilliant mind or state-of-the-art lab.
In these times of uncertainty and rapid change, rumors whispered around the water cooler often carry more weight than even the best-written employee newsletters or executive speeches.
I recently had the opportunity to meet author Rebecca Costa and hear her talk about her book “The Watchman’s Rattle: Thinking our way out of Extinction”.
At the recent 2011 HR People and Strategy (HRPS) conference, I attended a presentation by David Rock, co-founder of the NeuroLeadership Institute, which helped put some hard science behind what we observe as change professionals on a daily basis.
Some quick and compelling information we find interesting...
Have you ever participated in a meeting and spent half of the meeting trying to decipher what it was about? One way to minimize the chance of someone sitting through your meetings scratching their heads or walking away confused is to set and share clear meeting objectives.
We all know that an appreciation of cultural diversity can be useful to executives operating across multi-cultural boundaries, but what else is important? What distinguishes ‘global leaders’ from ‘domestic leaders’?
Think just because you’ve limited your Facebook profile to just your list of friends you have a handle on your information? Think again.
As managers, we’re told how important it is to give our employees “honest and timely feedback”. Usually, we’re not given much more guidance. Managers are left to fill in the blanks, like - how ‘honest’ do you really need to be?
Today, companies in all industries are suffering a growing Skills Gap – a gap between the current capabilities of a company’s workforce, and the capabilities needed to execute their business strategy.
Thousands of companies conduct employee surveys each year. My suspicion is that very few of them know why. It sounds like a good thing to do. A lot of competitors do it. So it seems like my company should too. Right? Maybe.
Some quick and compelling information we find interesting...
In an increasingly fast-paced, global, and competitive business landscape, innovation has become a key driver of differentiation, agility and, ultimately, success. Today, companies are relentlessly pursuing innovation to give them a competitive edge. More and more leaders are calling on their employees and teams to be creative in finding solutions to complex problems, developing new products and services, maximizing resources and minimizing costs. With all of this growing pressure for innovative brilliance, how can companies effectively cultivate the creativity they need to stay one step ahead of the competition?
Do you have a desire to “do something good” on your vacation and experience new places and challenges in locales you might not otherwise visit? A new form of travel called voluntourism might be your answer.
